Loft insulation - least irritating?

[John Smith]

Which form of loft insulation is least irritating to lay and generally to live with?

My current place has about 100mm of dusty rockwool and I was thinking of improving it.

It's a bungalow (about 90 square metres - about 1/3 of it boarded). In my previous place I installed 150mm fibre glass and was itching for a week after (and coughing even though I wore a mask specifically for glass fibre loft insulation). I noticed in the old house that whenever I went into the loft I could see fibres in the air. In my current loft I don't see this. I believe (maybe wrongly) that rockwool fibres are larger so if disturbed tend to settle down again?

Is it worth laying insulation myself (the previous experience was not pleasant) given that installers get the stuff cheaper than me and so even after paying their installation charge its only about 50-60% more than it costs me to buy it?

Finally - is it worth lifting the boarding given that it already has 100mm under it?

Thanks for any info.

John Smith.

[BigWallop]

There are paper products which don't seem to react with, or cause problems to any thing around them. They are fully fire retardant and environmentally friendly, so this type might be best suited to your needs.

[Christian McArdle]

Kingspan/Celotex.

If ventilation can be provided above and be mostly blocked below, I'd stick it on the rafters, rather than the joists. That way you get a much warmer and dust free loft suitable for storage that won't freeze pipes or tanks.

Christian.

[Rick Dipper]

Celotex, you buy 8x4 and cut (bread knife or saw) to fit.

Rick

[Simon Avery]

Hello John

I haven't had this rant for a while.

IME, NEVER use installers for loft insulation.

We tried to get a subsidised installation of bog-standard 100mm in our bungalow under the "Heat Devon" council funded scheme. THREE TIMES we stayed home for the arranged visit from the contractor and each time he failed to arrive or even ring and apologise.

So I went to B&Q and spent a mildly uncomfortable morning laying it.

Job done for HALF what the FUNDED AND SUBSIDISED service would have cost, even if they could've been bothered to turn up AND I put down

200mm in most of the loft. (?80 vs their ?165 initial quote - though never got a fixed price because they also failed the pre-install inspection)

So sod 'em, do it yourself. It's simple provided you're relatively fit, and MUCH cheaper.

[Lobster]

I keep seeing this advice being proferred - not that I'm disagreeing with it, but if you're in effect going to heat the fairly substantial volume of air enclosed by the average attic space, doesn't it have a pretty big effect on your fuel bills?

David

[The Natural Philosopher]

No. Its not heating the air, its the heat loss on toto that makes for the expense.